Nearly fifty years after the birth of field trials, voting rights were granted to women in 1920. This milestone prompted a general shift in views around women’s liberties. Women began riding astride, wearing jodhpurs, adopting shorter hairstyles, and, by the 1930s, it was all the vogue for women to wear trousers. Until then, practically the only female names that made the pages of the American Field weekly magazine were those of winning Setters and Pointers like Sioux, La Besita, Mary Montrose and Becky Broom Hill. Just as in the written accounts, the paintings depicting upland shooting and field trials were all of men. Before long, however, women started to make their mark in American Field trials.

The influence and early involvement of women in the sport is indisputable. Wives of early professional trainers made the long, arduous journey to the Canadian prairies to spend their summers in makeshift training camps, feeding and caring for their husbands, families, and the help that accompanied them north. Wives and daughters of wealthy patrons and field trial club directors became enthusiastically involved as owners of dogs as well as in the administration and running of field trials.

Read more at projectupland.com.